Tumbling in Flowers and Sand
by Cattt
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy mission. She hadn't gone out on the mission to hit Subaku no Gaara across the face. And she didn't know why she was able to hit him or why Shukaku didn't kill her, but things suddenly turned crazy.
1. Stupid Temper

Disclaimer: So I do not own Naruto or its characters whatsoever. Got that, good.

Notes: Hey. So this is my first Naruto fic. Hope you like it.

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As they came to a clearing in the forest, Team 7 came to a stop. They were on D-class mission, guarding the outskirts of a small village a day away from Konoha. It was nothing that big; the village had problems around this time of year with robbers and had asked the Hokage for some protection. Just another routine mission, but everyone on Team 7 was happy to be out and traveling again.

"Alright, Naruto and I will go to report to the village, Sasuke go get some firewood, and Sakura scout the area and secure a perimeter," Kakashi said and started walking away with an orange book in hand.

"Hear that teme, I get to go to the village and you have to get wood," Naruto grinned.

"Leave Sasuke-kun alone, Naruto," Sakura glared at the blonde before turning and looking sweetly at the dark-haired boy.

"Dobe. I am not the one being babysat," Sasuke retorted, ignoring Sakura all together.

"Would you like me to make some shrimp ramen for dinner, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked affectionately.

The only reply was a bland 'keh' and then Sasuke was off. Sakura sighed, eyes still looking longingly on the spot where her crush disappeared.

"Shrimp ramen sounds delicious, Sakura-chan," Naruto cheered, breaking her from thoughts of the good-looking Uchicha.

"You do know Kakashi-sensei left don't you?"

Naruto looked to where the white-haired ninja had headed off to.

"I'll catch up with him in no time, cuz I am the great Naruto Uzaki!" Naruto proclaimed and gave a victory sign before he turned and took off after his sensei.

Sakura smiled and shook her head at his childishness. Sometimes she wondered how someone like Naruto would be able to become a ninja. But he was strong. She had seen evidence of his power time and time again. His and Sasuke's strengths were constant reminders that she was weak and needed to get stronger. It was something she wanted to prove to them and herself. And she wanted to be able to be there for her team, be a help and not a hindrance to them in battle- be able to protect them.

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Getting to work, she started on setting up a perimeter for them to make camp. She was nearly done when she saw a glimpse of red ahead of her. She went around and from the back so she would not be detected.

The problem was that when she tried to come up from behind, she could not find the person. Walking forward silently, she looked around, but saw no one. All she saw was the forest floor, thick tree trunks, and empty branches above.

Then a person stepped out from a tree right in front of her. She took in the pale skin, jade eyes, red hair, and gourd with wide eyes. 'He's far from home, isn't he? Wonder what he is here for.' Shaking herself mentally, she decided to greet him. She had seen him fight and she thought it best not to be rude.

"Gaara-sama," she acknowledged, but he did not respond and so they just stood there until she grew impatient.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

When he remained silent, only looking at her with a cold, blank expression she started to get angry. 'He probably thinks I'm not worth the time,' she thought angrily.

"It's rude to not reply when someone is speaking with you."

"Weak Kounichi," he stated.

Sakura blinked, surprised at first that that he spoke at all and then furious with his answer.

"What?!" Sakura fumed.

"You are weak, and you are pathetic for following the Uchicha like a pathetic fool," the red head said looking down on her like she just something annoying and in his way.

"I love Sasuke-hun," she said defensively.

"Love is weak," he said blankly, as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No it is not. I love him and someday he will love me the same way," Sakura raised her chin brashly.

"The Uchicha seems to know it is a stupid to waste his time with such a weak kounichi as you."

The way he said it in that cold voice made something crack inside her chest. That cold voice reminded her of Sasuke-kun's, and it brought up all her doubts about Sasuke never liking her and that she would always just be a weak kounichi with a huge forehead.

All her life she got picked on for one thing or another; her pink hair, being so skinny, her big forehead, not being strong enough. She tried to get stronger, tried to ignore the taunts, and did whatever she could to win Sasuke-kun's affections. And she got stronger and she had started to grow into her body, but she was still weak compared to her teammates and she wasn't and probably never would be as pretty as Ino.

And here this emotionless weirdo had the nerve to taunt her like everyone else. She felt the anger build with the hurt until it came tumbling out of her mouth, aiming to hurt him like she did.

"I hate you!"

She hit him, her ring scratching deeply into the skin of his cheek. The cut was unintentional, she had forgotten she had a ring on, but Gaara did not know that.

'I'm dead meat.'

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Hehe, gotta watch your temper with Gaara. So what's the verdict, should I keep going?


	2. er, that tickles

Disclaimer: yeah, yeah. You know the deal.

Author Notes: Wow, I can't believe I got so many reviews! Thanks! Glad you guys liked it, and I hope you continue to. Anyways, here ya go:

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"_I hate you!"_

_She hit him, her ring scratching deeply into the skin of his cheek. The cut was unintentional, she had forgotten she had a ring on, but Gaara did not know that. _

'_I'm dead meat.'_

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Gaara kept his head turned, eyes wide in what looked like surprise and confusion.

She stood in silence, shocked by her actions, seeing the result of it as blood trailing down his pale cheek. Then she remembered the sand he carried around in the large gourd strapped to his back. The sand didn't allow anyone to even get _near_ him. Anyone stupid enough to try to attack him would quickly lose their life to that lethal sand. So… how was she able to hit him?

'Forget dead meat. We're a bloody, squishy pile of dead meat,' Inner Sakura said mentally eyeing the stunned Suna no Gaara warily with a raised brow.

'Yeah, like that's any better. Who asked for your opinion anyway?' Sakura thought bitterly.

'It's probably closer to the truth, though. Not much is left after his sand gets you. Forget the Boogey Man, Gaara would tear that freak to shreds in the time it would take him to grin maliciously. Just hope it's a quick death. And I don't need your permission to give my opinion,' she said haughtily inspecting her nails, 'I've got better ideas and if you just followed my lead now and then we'd be great!' Inner Sakura jumped up shaking a set of pom-poms.

'Ugh, useless,' she thought before ignoring her split personality completely. She was getting nervous just waiting to see what the redhead would throw at her in retaliation. They seemed to have been standing there forever. 'Maybe I killed him and post-mortem has set in.' Inner Sakura merely snorted at the absurd idea.

It was another moment before the boy moved. He turned back eyes closed, and she wondered how furious he was and how painful her death would be.

'At least you'll die at the powerful hands of a Demon Vessel, not some weak ninja,' Inner Sakura pointed out.

'Oh, yeah. That's reassuring,' Sakura felt like rolling her eyes but she wasn't going to risk taking her eyes off the sociopath before her.

'But it's true,' Inner Sakura humphed, 'We are so dead. Your fault by the way.'

Sakura growled silently to her multiple personality, 'We're the same person idiot. You're the one that expresses strong emotions.' The only response was a sheepish 'hehe.'

When the dangerous boy before her took her hand, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin. He looked like he was as surprised as she that he was touching her. Then she felt his fingers brush against her hand with unsure strokes. It made her wonder when the last time he had touched another human being or if he ever had.

And when he placed it over his wounded cheek, she looked at him bewildered. It was unnerving feeling his blood on her skin. She had never thought he could have such a weakness as being able to bleed that red substance. It made him seem human.

Sakura did not move or breathe in fear that particles of sand would come rushing out of the gourd to kill her in a suffocating coffin of sand. The tension was killing her. Just waiting for him to do something with this new personality of his was making her more nervous than ever before.

Dark-rimmed eyelids opened to reveal jade eyes; eyes with a manic quality to them. He pressed her hand hard into the wound, and Sakura knew it had to hurt, but he only sighed in pleasure. 'Creepy, creepy kid.' Sakura could only agree with her crazy inner self.

"Hit me, hate me, as long as you are touching me I don't care," he spoke quietly.

That royally freaked her out. What was his problem? Shouldn't he be trying to squash her into a Sakura smoothie? And 'hit me, stab me'! What the heck was that about? Where were Sasuke and Naruto? What should she do?

He had not said anything for a while now, just held her hand to his cheek. It was a good thing she had an empty bladder, otherwise she might have peed her pants. She was barely able to keep herself from hyperventilating.

"Gaa-r-ra?" she nearly whimpered in fear, "what are you doing?"

He tilted his head, not seeming to understand. Then the worry in his eyes flitted away, making her wonder if she pushed him over the edge.

Not knowing how to fix things and get the boy to his normal self, she decided to do what she knew she could do. So she pumped warm green chakra into the hand against his cheek and forced the skin to stitch itself together, not even leaving a scar.

Gaara finally pulled her hand away and his attention was caught by the sight of his blood.

"No one has made me bleed before," then he frowned as if he did not like the thought of his blood on her.

'W-wha?' and then Inner Sakura keeled over in shock as Gaara began _licking_ her hand. Sakura stared dumbfounded, not believing her eyes. She blinked. Nope, he was still there, pink tongue darting out to run along her skin. His tongue was rough like that of a cat, and it sent little jolts of electricity through the sensitive pads of her fingers and palm. When he focused on the flat underside of her hand she had to stop from squirming because the sensation tickled. Shivers ran up her arms and down her back as he continued until her palm and fingers clean.

Finished with- er, cleaning her hand, he let their hands lower, though he did not release hers. Touching his cheek with his other hand, he realized it was healed, and examined it disbelievingly.

"No one has healed me before," his voice was soft and rough. The unspoken 'no

one ever cared enough to' hung in the air.

By this point, Sakura was far from knowing what to do. Tsunade never went over what procedure you're supposed to use when your dealing with a sociopathic boy who has a Raccoon Demon allow you to hurt him when his sand kills any who tries to, shows masochistic tendencies using your hand as the tool, and then completely loses it.

"Sakura!"

'Sasuke,' she thought, looking over her shoulder towards the voice. Not a second later she got distracted by something sliding up around her leg. 'Now that is on odd feeling,' Inner Sakura mused. Looking down she inhaled sharply seeing sand, which in normal instances is generally harmless, move like it was alive. Sand that had killed who knows how many.

Sakura met Gaara's gaze and saw something feral in their green depths. The whimsical insanity was receding but the manic gleam was back, something growing stronger in there.

"Sakura!" she bit her lip, because she only wanted to call back to Naruto who just yelled and have her team surrounding her in the safety she always felt with them. Something in those narrowed eyes were warning her, though, making some primal side deep within her that was covered in years of civilized thought acknowledge the mysterious threat.

She might not have been able to take her eyes of the Tanuki carrier, but her body naturally began to turn when she again heard the worry in her teammates' next calls. She winced, knowing it was the wrong thing her traitorous body could do as the sand tightened and traveled further up circling her upper thigh, Sakura gulped, and over the front of her hips. To make matters worse and even more uncomfortable, a hand gripped the inward curve of her waist, and the pupils in those green eyes contracted to slits.

Sakura gulped, her sea foam eyes wide, searching for any intention but finding none in that pale face with the tattooed kanji of love. Why was there a kanji of love on the forehead of someone like him? Did he ever know love?

"Sakura!"

Judging by the growl coming from the redhead she stood in the clutches of, he had felt the very slight twitch under his hand on her waist when she heard Sasuke, and he did not seem pleased by her body's response to her teammate's voice. Even inner Sakura winced before quickly taking her leave, 'Pissed off more like it.'

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Well, that took awhile. I know it's short, but it takes a while cuz I like to make sure it flows and makes sense. I think I proof read it like… six times. Anyways, read and review.


	3. Not my day, is it ever?

Disclaimer: yeah, yeah. You know the deal.

Author Notes: Oh my gosh, 25 reviews. I've never gotten that many in just a few days. Thank you, thank you, thank you! That is freaking awesome.

Super-rat: Shukaku is great isn't he? Don't worry, you'll see.

DarkMage6: I know I think creepy Gaara is cute too. I just wanta hug him to death. :pout:

Anyways, I'm glad you all like Gaara in this story. I'm trying to update as quickly as I can. So, on with the show:

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"_Sakura!" _

_Judging by the growl coming from the redhead she stood in the clutches of, he had felt the very slight twitch under his hand on her waist when she heard Sasuke, and he did not seem pleased by her body's response to her teammate's voice. Even inner Sakura winced before quickly taking her leave, 'Pissed off more like it.'_

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Sasuke fired an attack when he got to the clearing, causing Gaara to release her a bit. The sand was still on, though, so when Naruto attacked she was grateful that it had to release her in order to fight her two teammates. The fighting happened quickly and Sakura was still too dazed from all the contact from what Inner Sakura had dubbed the Gaara-Touching-Event to really pay attention to what techniques they were using.

Snapping out of it Sakura began helping her teammates fight Gaara, which was no easy task when everyone had to keep dodging the sand he wielded. When Gaara noticed her working in conjunction with her team, she saw his eyes narrow on her.

Fear.

That was what she felt. It was obvious he was mad at her, and that nearly scared her witless.

Then sand was coming from everywhere, making her scramble to avoid the continuous assault. She would evade one from the left, only to have to twist and try to avoid one from the right.

Everyone saw that Gaara had focused on her, using over half of his sand to chase and try to get a hold of her.

"Sasuke, take her away," Kakashi ordered, as he created a couple more clones to go after their strong opponent.

Gaara had heard the silver ninja's words. 'Take her away, taker her away, take her away' rang over and over in his head, and a fury crashed over his senses.

Suddenly, Sakura felt herself being lifted and she was about to fight it off, but Sasuke told her to be still and she did so happily. The sudden yell made her look to Gaara. His eyes were wide with insanity and his sand was around him, transforming him. The scene caused her to gasp and Sasuke to turn and head for the safety of vegetation and foliage.

Sasuke ran into the forest, leaping from tree to tree to make them go even faster. Sakura took deep breaths, silently telling herself she was safe now. It definitely felt safer in her teammate's arms, especially with the knowledge that he and her other two boys would do whatever it took to prevent the enemy from getting her.

A sudden roar thundered through the forest, shaking trees, and making leaves flutter down in its wake. All four retreating ninjas could feel it causing a small vibration through their clothes and hair.

"What's up with Gaara?" Naruto asked as they continued running away from the threatening, bestial sound.

"Quiet!" Kakashi said, more serious than normal, "Mask your trail and scent and keep running for Konoha."

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A couple hours passed and they no longer heard the crush of trampled shrubs and the cracking of breaking trees from a rampaging demon vessel. Well, they hoped it was the vessel.

Off to the left Kakashi made a quick signal and they all came to a halt in the treetops. Sasuke let his teammate down and leaned back on the tree trunk while Sakura stood there nervously before her teammates.

"What happened back there?" Kakashi asked in a rather serious voice.

Sakura looked about them unsure how to explain what she obviously had no clue about and shrugged helplessly.

"You angered Suna no Gaara," Sasuke supplied and Sakura really wanted to glare at him but she went for a frown instead.

Before she could defend herself Naruto had to open his big mouth and ask in a cheery voice, "Did you lose your temper with him Sakura-chan?"

This time she went with option three and bonked him on the head. While he recovered from his impromptu meeting with the forest floor and managed to get back up into their bough of branches, she tried to tell them what happened, because the boys weren't helping matters at all.

"I was out scouting when I spotted something. I went around and behind to sneak up and find out who it was, but it was only Gaara. I tried to talk to him but then he insulted me and …" Sakura stopped, embarrassed by her rash actions with the Kazekage's son.

"Sakura," her sensei prompted.

"Well, I –uh slapped him," she mumbled ducking her head.

There was a dead silence after that and Sakura was afraid to look up and see their expressions. I mean, how was she supposed to be a ninja when she exploded at someone just for calling her weak? Ninjas were not supposed to even show emotions, let alone allow someone to rile them up to the point of attacking the antagonist.

Tired of the extremely long lapse in speech, she finally looked up to see Naruto with his mouth agape, Sasuke had actually appeared to have her full attention, and it even looked like Kakashi's eye was somewhat wide open and she imagined his brow was a bit raised also.

"Well, that explains things," Kakashi said.

Sakura winced and started fingering a kunai pouch while avoiding their gazes again. "Um, not everything," she muttered.

"You didn't slap him again did you?" Naruto asked with wide eyes and eyebrows reaching towards his hairline.

She had to ignore Inner Sakura who was being held back by invisible cords as she mumbled something about, "let me at him."

"No!" she retorted, "My ring cut his cheek and-"

"Wait, you're telling me you were _actually_ able to slap him? His sand did not shield him?" Kakashi was doing the wide eye thing again and it was starting to freak her out.

"Yeah, I don't know how. I thought I was dead but instead of killing me with his sand he got all funny."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"He kinda zoned out and then held my hand, pressed it against his cut and said some mumbo jumbo about him not caring if I hit him as long as I touched him," her voice had gotten rather quiet by that point and her cheeks were quickly turning an embarrassed shade of red, "And- uh I heard Sasuke call and I turned but then there was sand crawling up my leg and Gaara suddenly started getting angry. He didn't say anything, but he was holding me and looked like he was losing it when you guys showed up."

She hadn't wanted to tell them, but with all things considered it really looked like she needed their help and it's hard to help if you don't understand what is going on. So even though she wanted to keep it a secret she had managed to get it all out.

Kakashi seemed to be thinking over it all before he seemed to come to a decision as he got ready to start towards Konoha again.

"You need to be careful Sakura. Pay attention to your surroundings and stick with one of us at all times."

"What's going on Kakashi-sensei?" she asked

"I don't know for sure, but considering that Gaara lost control means it's a very serious situation and we need to keep our guard up."

And so the four continued heading back until they reached the safety of Konoha's gates. Then came the next hard part; reporting the latest events to the Hokage. Sakura cringed as they walked into the tower.

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"You did what?" Tsunade demanded looking to Sakura.

The pink-haired kounichi looked to her shoes yet again in embarrassment for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She should have just called in sick this morning. 'This just isn't my day.'

"Haruno Sakura," the Hokage said so sternly that Sakura knew she had to look up and face the Hokage's wrath, "That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard you do. Do you realize what you have caused or the repercussions that may come out of your actions?"

"um, no," Sakura winced.

"Gaara is highly unbalanced as you are all well aware of. When he loses control not only do people die, but it is in brutal, mass quantities. To make matters worse he is not just some rogue nin that has no ties. He is the Kazekage's son and relations between Suna and Konoha are already tenuous at best."

"But baa-chan," Naruto tried to help, scratching the back of his head as he continued under the Hokage's hard gaze, "Gaara'll snap out of it."

"Shut it Naruto," Tsnuade snapped. "And you," she pointed to Sasuke who was about ready to add his arrogant opinion, "Don't even start."

Sasuke frowned before looking at the very uninteresting wall that he tried to make look like it was very intriguing in its bland color and wall-like emptiness.

"Now, due to these recent events I am restricting you all to missions within the village," she glared at the two boys, "And I don't care if it was not either of you two's fault. You are a team and each is responsible for the other. Until I am sure that this situation is under control, I am not going to allow any more chances for things to deteriorate further."

Tsunade looked each in the eye to get her point across before giving them a sharp, "dismissed." Kakashi stayed behind as the three left the Tower.

"Good going Haruno," Sasuke said before stalking off, to where no body knew.

Sakura looked forlornly after him and felt her heart sink. Why did she always mess up and gain Sasuke-kun's dislike?

'Humph,' her crazy Inner butted in, 'He doesn't know what he's missing. That little chicken-head can kiss this hot ass goodbye,' she said shaking her finger after slapping her behind as if to say she was all that, 'We can have stronger and hotter guys than the sorry likes of him. That creepy Gaara kid seemed to have a good idea what to do with a hot body like our's.'

'Really?' she thought exasperatedly, 'Do you have to talk like that?'

'Honey, we can get whatever guy we want,' Inner Sakura said with a snap of her fingers, 'Just need a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T oh yeah, oohheehh,' she danced around. 'Plus, that Gaara kid was kinda hot in a gothic kind of way. And did you forget that _tongue_.'

'Yeah, it's a good think I don't faint as easily as you,' she jabbed at the other's weakness.

'With a tongue like that how can you blame me, all warm and rough,' she shivered and pretended to faint, 'That chicken-shit's tongue is probably all slobbery like Akamaru's,' but then paused as if in some deep philosophical thought, 'either that or he's like a dead fish.'

'Leave Sasuke-kun alone.'

'Whatev,' her inner said indifferently giving a flick of her hair.

Sakura started walking home dejectedly. 'Besides, why would you like Gaara? Did you forget he's psycho?'

'Oh yeah, so says the girl talking to her split personality. That's a riot. Listen babe, I'm not saying marry him, just saying he'd be a good lay.'

Sakura did roll her eyes this time. 'I'm surrounded by perverts.'

"Ahh, don't worry Sakura-chan," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with a laugh.

Sakura shook her head, she had completely forgotten about her blonde-haired partner. Mistakening her motion as being disheartened, Naruto carried on in his attempts to cheer her up.

"Sasuke is a teme and Baa-chan will put us back on the good missions in no time. You'll see. Hey, I know. Let's go to Ichimaru's. A stomach full of ramen always makes me feel better."

Sakura chuckled. "That's because you're obsessed with it, dobe."

"It's _ramen_," he argued as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to understand.

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Well, I think Sasuke made it onto Gaara's hit list. Not that that is hard to do, but I think he just landed the 'first to die' slot. I tried to put some more Inner Sakura dialogue in, it was pretty fun writing. Keep on commenting so I know if I'm doing well or if anything is lacking.


	4. little pink rabbit of mine

Disclaimer: yeah, yeah. You know the deal. Pouts, I wanna cute Gaara with a teddy bear.

Author Notes:

I am really sorry. I've been holed up in my room for the last two weeks of the semester rushing to get things done for my art critiques and anthropology courses. Didn't help that I procrastinate, but I think I still pulled of A's for the final projects and tests, so it's all good. The anthro test about killed me, it was a take home and I spent twenty freaking hours straight on it. He made it a Graduate level test even though its an Undergraduate course, ugh.

So, I read the Stats and it said I had 1585 HITS! WOOHOO! I am so so happy.

HANAJIMA UCHICHA: Yeah, I had a feeling it had been wrong. I had finally gone back to a couple Gaara fics and figured out it was Sabaku, so it will be fixed in future chapters. Thanks, though. And if you find anything else that doesn't match up let me know.

ShadowFoxAngel: yeah, but now he's crossed the line with Shukaku and Gaara. It's not just "I want to spill your blood and watch you die", think territory and retribution.

Mel: yeah, I like psycho guy stories : shrugs: what can I say? They are intense and I shouldn't I find it hot but I do. Well, when I already find the psycho attractive that is.

Caz: Thanks, I didn't want to turn him into a sap, but I didn't want him to be boring, so this was the result.

snusnu: I feel the love, thanks for the caps letters. Llike your name by the way.

TwilightBloodRose: thank you for the caps too.

DarkMage6: your wish is my command, let me know if you enjoyed it. I need sleep too, I just _know_ my body is going through sleep depravation.

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A week had gone by filled with simple missions like getting Tomiyo's kitten out of the tree yet again and helping replant Mrs. Shin's garden after the dog had gotten in there and torn up everything. And now it was another peaceful and rather sunny Saturday. Sakura had found herself outside enjoying the fresh air and warmth after cleaning her room and reorganizing her gear. Unfortunately, she had found a silly weed that she had decided needed pulling. Normally this wasn't a problem in the least, except the small, green vegetation was refusing her techniques of coercion. She found herself working a good fifteen minutes trying to yank and pull it out with no luck.

Then out of nowhere Sasuke stood before her making her let go of the weed she had been fruitlessly tugging at.

"Good afternoon, Sasuke-kun," she greeted with a smile.

He merely nodded. When he did nothing else, she decided it was better just to go back to her annihilation- er weeding of the annoying green obstacle.

'What the heck?! This is like the weed from hell.'

"The Hokage has called Team 7 to report to her office," Sasuke eyed her evil weed as he leaned against the wall of her house.

'What? He thinks he can pull the little bugger out. Fine, let him have the conniption when he can't pull the little sucker from its comfy spot that just happens to be in front of my house,' Inner Sakura glared.

"Did she say what for?" Sakura asked brushing her hands of the residual dirt.

'Looks like you'll live to see another day my little pretty,' Sakura glared at the weed conspiratorially.

"Hn," he shrugged.

She took that as a 'no'. Figuring that was all she was getting out of him, she got up and stretched before leaving with him to the Hokage's Tower. Arriving there, they found Naruto and Kakashi-sensei already inside waiting for them.

"All right, now that you are all here," Tsunade started with a nod, "You have a mission to patrol the outskirts of Konoha."

"Wohoo," Naruto jumped up in his excitement, but suddenly was face first on the ground with no trace of what caused his sudden 'slip' besides the almost unnoticeable movement of Sasuke's arm returning to rest at his side.

"But- I thought we were restricted," Sakura frowned.

"Yes, well apparently many of the teams are out on missions at the moment and I am forced to use teams that are left here in Konoha."

"There are several teams within Konoha," Kakashi-sensei pointed out, wondering what happened to change the Hokage's mind.

"Yes, but I need all available teams patrolling. I have gotten reports of wild animal attacks. None of the witnesses had much to tell when it came to the descriptions of the animal but it has yet to be found," Tsunade rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Teams are already in the other quadrants so you will be covering section D, the forest outskirts behind Konoha. You will be stationed there for a week and check with the other patrol teams every three days. Questions?"

Receiving none, she dismissed them. When they left she quickly shuffled scrolls around in one of her desk drawers.

"Where is it? I know I put it here," the blonde Hokage's mumblings were followed by a couple of thumps.

"Ahh, there you are," she held her prize in the air adoringly.

Suddenly the door flew open and Shizune stood there with hands on her hips. Tsunade had already thrust her prize behind her back, hiding it from the other women's view.

"I thought we went over this, Tsunade-sama," Shizune reprimanded.

"What are you talking about?" the Hokage asked innocently.

"Hand it over," the other ordered holding out her hand.

"I don't have anything, so what could I possibly hand over?" Tsunade kept up with the act.

Barely finished with her sentence, Tsunade had to dodge the rocketing assistant who made a grab at whatever was hidden behind the Hokage's back. Darting around the desk Tsunade made it to the door before turning around.

"Mwhahaha, victory is mine!" the Hokage yelled and with a _pop_ she disappeared.

Shaking her head, Shizune went back outside to her desk shaking her head.

"I don't understand why she always runs to the door instead of popping out in the first place."

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"Ahh, man. I really thought those berries would be okay to eat," Naruto whined holding his stomach and fidgeting on his feet. He couldn't leave Sakura, but he felt like he was going to burst.

The short journey to their patrolling sector had been uneventful besides Naruto's excited ramblings and egging on Sasuke to racing challenges. Her and Naruto had set up camp for the night, while Sasuke was hunting and Kakashi-sensei did the first patrol. The only problem now was the questionable berries that Naruto ate a few hours ago that were now disagreeing with his stomach. 'Serves him right,' she thought, 'Especially when considering I had explicitly warned him that they were often used to help with constipation.'

"Just go, Naruto." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"But Kaka-"

"I can take care of myself for a few minutes. Now go, before you explode or something."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan."

And just like that, Naruto was gone, seeking relief somewhere in the forest, hopefully _far, far_ from their campsite.

….

"Just how many of those berries did he eat?" Sakura muttered, shaking her head.

Naruto had been gone for twenty minutes already. Granted he probably stuffed his face on those little blue berries he found. 'Idiot,' she thought.

Then again, maybe she should pick a handful on the way back. Shikamaru had left her with that mess he caused after ticking off Shino earlier this week after all. Who knew the lazy, cloud watcher would have such a hallucinogenic reaction to the bite of the bug which Shino had sent after him in retaliation? Still, it resulted in the decimation of several _full_ trash bins at the hospital, which she was reminded he did _not_ help clean up even after he had regained all of his senses. He had conveniently disappeared when she had turned away for but two seconds.

Growing rather bored, with nothing else to do around camp and no one to talk to, Sakura looked around for some inspiration. Nothing really stood out among the forest scenery besides one half-way fallen tree. It looked like it had been knocked down during a storm but the top got lodged in the branches of another tree causing it to remain standing, from what she calculated, at a one-hundred and thirty degree tilt.

Deciding to practice her balance she did a handstand on the trunk and began to sidestep up the tree. It wasn't all that hard to do even in a handstand, but it was something to do.

Her nose twitched. She swore she just smelt something like copper. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tried to get another whiff. It was gone though. Realizing she probably looked like an idiot, which wouldn't be good if Sasuke happened to walk back into camp, she opened her eyes and was met by a pair of jade eyes.

Losing her balance, she fell backwards and barely managed to land on her feet. 'Did I just see-?' Looking up she found that yes it was Sabaku no Gaara on the other side of the fallen tree.

'When did he show up?'

'Don't know, don't care. I wanna rest so tell the moody little creep to come back later,' her Inner said before retreating.

Feeling something move on her arm she looked down to find a tiny bit of sand moving in a clockwise fashion on forearm. Was it just her, or did it look a tinge redder than normal. Then she remembered the smell. Copper, the smell of metal or- blood. She was quickly putting the pieces together. Gaara losing it, one week, animal attacks, outskirts, copper, Gaara, animal attacks- It was Gaara who had done the attacks. If he was still out of control that would explain the attacks that had been going on for one week since the last time she had seen him, which would explain why his sand smelled more like blood.

Taking in his appearance, she grew more anxious. His hair was mussed and his clothes were wrinkled, shirt and shoes gone completely (she pretended that the lean musculature of his chest was not visible for the whole world to see), and there were smudges of dirt and dried blood. He still had his gourd, whether he was even conscious of it being there or not was questionable. But what told her she was in some deep crap were those eyes. They would go from unfocused to being focused now and again and she could see the depths of insanity in them. The intelligent and stiff personality of Gaara wasn't there, but neither was the determined angry gleam when he had been holding her from her teammates a week ago. Instead, she only saw jumbled emotions and the simplicity of the primal and insane mind. He seemed to be focusing in more, though, the longer they stared.

No matter how jumbled his thoughts seemed to be, she knew he was still dangerous, maybe more so. His bloody sand could testify to it. And she was no match against him. And she was without her team _again_. Fate was a rather cruel mistress it seemed. However, just because fate may have given her lemons it did not mean she was going to make lemonade. It may have brought her into this situation, but Sakura was going to get herself out. And that meant finding her team.

Without giving away any signs of her strategy, she swung around to bolt for it, only to halt herself just as quickly when she was blocked by a redhead who suddenly appeared before her. And when she took into account the 'before her', it meant almost being nose to nose with Gaara. Not moving, she looked into those green eyes that were darker than hers and rimmed in black. He smelled like the forest, and managed to still look good in a gothic, shirtless way. It seemed he had gained even more focus because he was staring back intently.

Then, without a word or any other sign for her to see the reasons behind his action, he leaned over and kissed her. She remained there stunned. It wasn't a forceful kiss like she was expecting. It was light and rather innocent, like a shy first kiss. His lips were soft compared to what she remembered of his tongue from last time, and he was just so gentle. He was the one causing the wild animal attacks, right? Because the way he was acting conflicted with the description of a wild animal.

Slowly Gaara pulled back and she stood there still in shock. It had been a nice kiss she had to admit; it having caused her stomach to do a little flip.

She looked at him trying to figure out what was going on. Something flashed across the boy's eyes, but before she could figure it out everything went black.

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He felt angry, no furious. He was looking for something, for a 'her' that something kept whispering in his mind. It was so hazy, and things faded in and out. Sometimes there was silence, then there was the feel of leafs under his paws, was it paws? Or was it hands?

Now and then there was screaming and the wailing of a creature's upcoming death. And blood, warm blood. It felt so wonderful, warm and wet, covering the leaves. He felt free? He was free. No cares, just leaves, silence, blood, and screams. But that soothing, familiar voice kept whispering in growls, 'find', 'lost', 'her'. The presence was familiar and they were connected. They felt the same things. And they were furious, something was lost. And at moments he would remember, but then it was gone. _He_ always knew what they searched for, kept urging them on to find what they had lost. But his head was cloudy, like he was floating in the sky. How long? Time meant nothing, only the leaves and screams, and finding what _he_ said was lost.

And then it changed.

Something sweet met his snout-nose? It was inviting and soothing and made his mouth water, mind relax, and body tense. Lost, found, her. And they moved closer until they could hear soft breathing and the steady beats of a heart. He saw pink and green and pale. _He_ growled and they were content. Her, her, her, found, not lost. Pink and green, not leaves and screams but sooo good.

Pink and green and upside down. He tilted his head confused. Moving easily up a tree on hands not feet. Graceful and confident. He wanted closer. Closer to the green, feel the pink. Then the green was gone and 'her' took a deep breath. He wanted to see the green though. So he came close, so close, her breath became his.

And then the green were open again and then wide with shock like a frightened rabbit. _He_ liked rabbits, especially when they found one and ripped and tear it apart and lap its blood. Blood, so good. They knew hers would be too, but he did not want to rip that furless skin.

'Her' fell backwards but she landed on her feet and they watched her graceful recovery with an excited focus. Green was eyeing his body and he felt a shiver and his stomach tightened. She was tense like the rabbits when they finally caught their scent and were ready to dash and seek safety in distance. Oh, but distance was not what he or _He_ wanted. They wanted closer to this pink rabbit. He knew when she was about to dash away, and he somehow knew this pink rabbit would be harder to catch than the others. So he was quick, quick as can be and stood in front of where she turned.

The sweet smell was making his mouth water and his mind get fuzzy and clearer at the same time. Bits and pieces were coming together to make a pattern in his head. And suddenly he remembered his name. Gaara. And the 'her', the pink rabbit, was Sakura. She had hit him and lived, touched him and healed him. He remembered her soft hair in his hand, and the warm skin beneath his tongue.

He had wanted to kiss her when he had her in his arms, kiss her like he had seen others do when they cared so deeply for others. He had always pondered over it, briefly least Shukaku make jibes at his curiosity. Some part of him had wanted someone to hold and kiss like others did, even though his tattoo always opposed such disillusioned thoughts.

He still wanted to experience it once. And so, with her standing before him then, he brushed his lips against hers and felt a tingle spread across them pleasantly as well as in the middle of his chest. He was hesitant, not quite believing he would be able to kiss this girl before him. Everything was always ripped away, but she was still there and it felt so unlike anything he had ever felt. 'Mine,' he whispered in his mind.

When he pulled away he felt his mind begin to muddle even as he still felt the affects of the kiss. And what made him feel even better was that although there was shock in her eyes, there was no fear. And he wanted to stay with her, but she had ran before and might do so again.

Raising his hand he brought his fingers to a point on the back of her neck and tweaked it causing her to fall into him.

"hmmmm," he sighed holding her close.

The coherency was beginning to fade again, but it was alright. This creature of pink and green was in his hold and he did not care about anything else.

A word, 'mate', was growled happily in his head. The word trickled into his mind and he latched on to it. He liked the word and repeated it silently holding the warm, pink haired and green eyed rabbit that was not a rabbit closer.

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Thank you all for reviewing, even if it is just to say you like it. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope it turned out okay. I was missing Gaara, so of course he got to come back into the picture after his solitary week in the forest. I know there are lots of people reading this, so if you could review it will help motivate me to write faster.

Oh, and I don't really know when I have this story set time-wise. I haven't watched all the Naruto episodes, and I am not clear on the timeline of everything going on. So if someone can help tell me where this fic sounds like it fits into the timeline I would really appreciate the help. Thanks.


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